Vastraharana Lila. Part 3
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Цюрих · 2023
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Omna mo bhavate vasude, Omna mo bhavatevaya, Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya,
Janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ tene brahma hṛdā ya ādikavaye muhyanti yatra sūrayaḥ tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra trisargo ’mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi Satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apetyakṛtyaṁ
dvaipāyano virahakātara ājuhāva putreti tanmayatayā taravo ’bhinedus taṁ sarva-bhūta-hṛdayaṁ munim ānato 'smi nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam deviṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ tato jayam udīrayet
naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī. Okay,
Reading Srimad Bhagavatam tenth Canto chapter twenty two
so we will read today. The eighth verse from the 22nd chapter of the 10th Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Krishna steals the gopis' garments. Bhagavān bhavantāv abhipretya kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa yogeśvara yogeśvara yogeśvarāṁ vai
vayas-āvṛtās tatra gatās tat-karma-siddhaye tat-karma-siddhaye bhagavān tat-prītyā tat-prītyā bhagavān tat-prītyā bhagavān sādhvī-prītyā kṛṣṇa yogeśvareśvara kṛṣṇa yogeśvara yogeśvara kṛṣṇa yogeśvara kṛṣṇa yogeśvareśvara vyāsya
āvṛtās tatra vayas-āvṛtās tatra vyāsya āvṛtās tatra māyayā āvṛtās tatra gatās tat-karma-siddhaye gatās tat-karma-siddhaye gatās tat-karma-siddhaye bhagavān tad abhipretya, tad abhipretam, kṛṣṇa- yogeśvareśvara.
Viśveśvareśvaram, vyasyāvṛtas tatram, vyāsya āvṛtās tatra gatās tat-karma-siddhaye tatra bhagavān bhagavān the Supreme Personality of Godhead abhipretya kṛṣṇa Lord Krishna, Yoga-īśvara, īśvarāḥ
the master of all masters of mystic yoga. Vayasaihi by young companions
by young companions avritaha surrounded tatra there, gatāḥ went Tata of those girls, karma, karma, the ritualistic activities, Siddhai, for assuring the resulting result translation Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and master of all masters of mystic yoga, was aware of that of what the gopis were doing.
And thus he went there surrounded by his young companions toward the gopis, the perfection of their endeavor.
As the master of all masters of mystic yoga, Lord Krishna could easily understand the desires of the gopis, and he could also fulfill them.
The gopis, like all young girls, from respectable families, consider the embarrassment of appearing naked before a young boy to be worse than giving up their lives.
Yet Lord Krishna made them come out of the water and bow down to him.
Although the bodily forms of the gopis were all fully developed and although Krishna met them in a secluded place and brought them fully under his control because the Lord is completely transcendental.
There was no trace of material desire in his mind. Lord Krishna is the ocean of transcendental bliss and he wanted to share his bliss with the goddess on the spiritual platform completely free from ordinary lust.
Silva Vishwanati Chakravarti Thakur explains that the companions of Krishna mentioned here were mere toddlers two or three years old. They were completely naked and were unaware of the difference between male and female bodies.
When Krishna went out to herd the cows, they followed him because they were so attached to him that they could not bear to be without his association. Srila Prabhupada Kha.
Bhagavam Stata Bipretyak Krishna Yogesh Varadesh Varaha Vayasyar avritastatra Ghatastat Karma Siddhay.
Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of God and master of all masters of mystic yoga was aware of what the Gopis were doing and thus he went there surrounded by his young companions to award the gopis, the perfection of their endeavor.
Namam Vishnu Padaya Krishna Prashtaya Bhutale Srimati Bhaktividanta Swami, Namaste Saraswati De, Buravani Pracharine, Nirvisasunyavadi Paschatyade Patiana Byvaishnavyamon maha, Jai Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhunitananda, Sri Advaitadhara, Sri Vasadhi Gaurabhtaak Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ramaare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare
Pure desires of the young gopis
Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama rama, pravi mama vachima pra suptim, sanjevaya takila shapti darah swadamanyamchahasta, charana sramana Twagadi Pranandam Bhagavathi Purusavetu mim svasastuviswasikala prasidha tam dyantu butani silambiya manascha badram bhajatata doksaj So
trying to meditate on this Lila of young Kumarikas, Virgin Girls of Raj who were not engaged yet, how they developed very pure and ardent desire to marry God. They didn't have anyone else in mind. They didn't want anyone.
And for that they ultimately found the solution. The lesson here is that if we really want to come closer to God. God Himself sends us somebody who will teach us how to become closer to Him. He reciprocates with our desire.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains that our contact with devotees is always a result of some sort of internal cry when we are becoming desperate and we want to know some higher truths than the ordinary truths which are available, easily available in this world.
When this cry, tearful cry, comes out from our heart, then some arrangement is being made. And externally it may seem like some coincidence or some something which is not really significant,
but in reality, it's our desire who starts the chain reaction in the in the environment. It's our desire which changes ultimately.
And of course, mercy of God combined together, which brings about our meeting with devotees. And this desire, even though it seems to be completely uh completely uh uh how you say it unfulfillable.
I don't know if there is such a word in in English. This desire, even though it's completely unrealistic and not even, you know, it's impractical even.
Still, nevertheless, Krishna makes it possible, and he makes impossible possible because that's the definition of Krishna.
Krishna is somebody who can do everything even though it's completely impossible. And the greater desire is, the greater is the gap between our present situation and the condition which we are aspiring for, the more humble we become.
It's the cause of our humility. When we understand that I am totally undeserving, I cannot really you know have any hope uh for this. But nevertheless I want it. And this gap uh makes us humble.
Worship of Katyayani and supreme humility
And this gap actually, and the humility, that's a very important question to be answered in this līlā. Why did this gopi worship Kātyāyanī who is supposedly demigoddess?
Of course, according to the, you know, Nārada-pañcarātra or other tantric literature, Kātyāyanī is yoga-māyā, but they're young girls.
They don't really understand the distinction between yoga-māyā, mahā-māyā and moreover they are simple village girls, you know, they probably never heard about yoga-māyā. They don't teach about this on bhakta program.
That's just elevated topic of some other Bhaktivinoda Thakura or Bhaktivedanta. So they're playing this nara-līlā.
So in this nara-līlā they don't have any distinction, so they more or less worshiping, uh, the Kātyāyanī as Durgā as demigoddess, and there is a beautiful answer to this query or to this question.
The beautiful answer to this, of course, internally they are, you know, they are great devotees of the Lord and therefore they would not worship demigods for this purpose, but there is a reason why even great devotees sometimes worship demigods. Or as a matter of fact, they can worship anyone.
And this reason is their humility. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, he gives a beautiful verse where Lalita is speaking with Krishna through this Swan Messenger.
And Lalitā speaking to Krishna describes the condition of Rādhā who is left by Krishna in separation.
And Lalitā to explain the extent of her desperation, she says that, you know, sometimes she goes to a sādhu because she knows that when sādhu says something, then it will be fulfilled. So she humbly asks the sādhu, please give me an advice how to bring Krishna back.
Or sometimes she goes to a mystic who knows the art of incantations and the art of mystical mantras who are tracking and she's begging, please give me some mystical mantras so that I would bring Krishna back. Or sometimes she goes to some black magic people and she's asking them, can you give me some little portion so that I would give it somehow or other to Krishna and he will come back?
Or sometimes she goes to Goddess Parvati and she begs Parvati, please, dear Goddess, make sure that he is coming back.
So this is a description of the scale of their desire, the strengths, the force of their desire, which make them ready to do anything to fulfill their desires.
So they're not, you know, at this moment of time, they're not really philosophical. Shall we worship them in gods or not?
Or shall we just they're just they're just doing something. We have this desire, and whatever works is good. It doesn't matter.
So they were worshiping like this for the whole month, trying to do everything as much perfect as possible, trying to fulfill all the conditions of Vrata which were given to them by their spiritual master, who is Vrinda herself.
Vṛndāyai tulasī-devyai priyāyai keśavasya ca kṛṣṇa-bhakti-prade devī satyavatyai namo namaḥ
So, uh, the worshiping, uh, this, they're chanting this, uh, mantra Katyayani Mahamaye. And they know perfectly well who is the rishi of this mantra, who is the devata of this mantra, what is the Chandas, they're trying to do everything perfectly and definitely they
what is viniyoga. What is the purpose why they are chanting this mantra?
Four essential principles of mantra chanting
Actually, it is certain signs of mantra chanting that chanting of mantra can only be successful if you know these four principles. Who is the Rishi of this mantra?
Rishi means the seer, the somebody who saw this mantra in his mystical trance and revealed this mantra to us ordinary people. What is the devata, uh, the deity of this mantra, what is the chandas, meter?
Uh, how to chant it properly and what is the viniyoga? What is the proper application of this mantra for what it is? And only then the mantra chanting will be successful.
So for the whole month these gopis are doing this vrata and, uh, at the end of the month they're becoming emaciated, totally emaciated, uh, uh, their body, uh, loses the luster because for the whole month they didn't apply any oil to their bodies and they become dried up.
You know, winter is a very dry season and you need to take some, you know, ghee and some oil externally, and they're not using any decorations and their mothers they definitely know our daughters they're performing some vrata and they are proving this because they think internally our daughters are clever, they probably worship some demigod to get a good husband.
They don't know which husband they want to get. So but at the end of the months uh the mothers were becoming progressively more and more anxious and more and more disturbed.
You know what's going on, uh why our daughters are so emaciated, but they try to ask what do we want to achieve? What is the purpose of your severe Vrat? And Gopi says, something. Our purpose is to achieve something.
And Acharyas actually say it's also a very important lesson or little detail of this līlā. I challenged say that the very word gopi comes from the of course it may come from the word go, means cow, but
it may also come from the root gup which mints they are very secretive.
They are not revealing what is there in the heart, and that's a very important condition that you should not really reveal your aspirations to anyone else except for those who are completely in sync with your aspirations.
Because from them you cannot hide anyway.
As Śīla Jīva Gosvāmī explained, that you know, when they came together on the bank of Yamuna, they just they understood there is no point of hiding our feelings because they're all the same.
So they started pulling out what is the purpose. But from everyone else, it should be hidden, it should not be revealed. Especially if your aspiration is so high. So they're doing this and uh actually what will happen now?
Uh I'm as you see very hesitant to proceed with the līlās, so I'm kind of you know going back to a more innocent part of the whole event of the whole pastime.
But what is very important for us to understand, to understand the meaning of this līlā. Of course, there are so many layers of the meaning. But Krishna is helping to bring their uh level of attachment to the higher stage.
He is it's like this, the raga is unripe yet.
And we know when you know when you take the fruit which is not ripe yet, then you know sometimes it takes some endeavor to make it ripe and you know these people who are taking these green bananas in Ecuador, they're putting them in special boxes with you know carbon dioxide to facilitate the ripening process.
So exactly this thing is happening here.
Ten stages of purva raga explained
Krishna, who knows the desires and who knows the state of affairs, who knows their condition of their heart, he wants them to bring up, to come up to the higher stage of attachment.
So actually, this is what Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi when he says that there are that pūrva-rāga, as I said, the feeling which is described in this pastime is pūrva-rāga, and pūrva-rāga has ten stages.
The initial love, which is completely unfulfilled and completely, I mean, which doesn't have any even hope for meeting with the beloved. The love on a great distance goes from stage to stage.
It's not a static feeling. So the feelings of the Gopis are also not static and this Purvaraga is not static, and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that there are ten stages of increasing this emotion.
The first stage is delight of seeing, nayana-prītih. You see the object of your love, and you just you're just amazed how beautiful he is. And then the next stage, the second stage, is cintā-saṅga.
You start thinking, oh, when shall I meet with him? Or with her? When shall I, when this happened, when we meet together? And then the third stage is determination of making decision to do something about it.
So initially, you just like how he looks like or she looks like, and then you start thinking, oh, how shall we meet? And then you start making plan, you know, this is what shall we do.
And then the next stage, natural stage of development, you lose
your sleep because you just cannot you just cannot do this in Sanskrit in case you're interested, it's called nidrā-cheda, when your sleep is completely shattered to pieces. You cannot just sleep.
So then the fifth stage waning away or losing weight. It's good for those who are overweight, but for those who are skinny may not be so good. So that's exactly what the mothers of these girls started noticing
that they're getting more and more skinny and dry. And then the sixth stage is detachment from other pleasures. You cannot just relate to anything else, you're just completely fixed in your desire.
And then the stage number seven is the most important. Loss of shame.
That's exactly what Krishna wants to achieve by this pastime. He wants them to ripe, to ripen, that their raga would be ripened as soon as possible and come to this seventh stage
when they completely losing their shame, which is very natural and which is so difficult to lose. I mean for especially for somebody who is from a cultured background.
So and then of course the eighth stage is madness and but we will not speak about this. We will not go into uh this extent.
So uh uh this is what Krishna is going to achieve and this is what is explained the commentators of this verse,
Significance of Krishna as Yogeshvara
the following Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura of this eighth verse, the following Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, who explains certain usage of the words of the names of Krishna on nomenclature which Shukadeva Gaswami is using in this verse.
He says, Bhagavan, first of all, he is God. Please don't forget about this.
He is God, but He is a very special, of course, he is Krishna, and it means that he is all attractive, and it means that he is just a natural object of love.
For those whose hearts are clean, for them there is nobody else who is attractive or as attractive as him.
But he is also Yogeśvara Īśvaraḥ, Yoga Īśvara Īśvara, he is the Īśvara of those who are Yogeśvara. He is not Yogeśvara, he is Īśvara of Yogeśvaras. Or the best mystics, those people who are completely
mystical and who can know this mystical science, he is the Īśvara of them.
And basically as Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains, this this is the prelude for the whole pastime, because in this pastime Krishna will do something which is completely unrealistic and impossible.
He will force this young and very chaste and very pure girls to come out of the water completely naked. This is his mystical feat. This is his amazing miracle which he is going to perform.
He is going you know he is as uh as the commentators explained that you know not only this he first of all of course he will fulfill their desires which are impossible.
He will reciprocate with each and every one of them in a completely appropriate way and uh n he will also uh you know he will uh he will force them to more or less uh lose their uh shame and he will also uh after that uh after exchanging the love he will just say you know you go you go your way and I will go my way.
The time will come when we meet together. This is not the time yet. So this is all uh the praise of uh Lord Krishna.
He doesn't have any uh stupid ideas or any uh bodily conceptions, he is just he just wants the exchange of love. And while achieving this purpose of his, he is completely satisfied. So, what will happen?
Final day of the Katyayani vow
This happened on the last day of their vrat. For 30 days, for 29 days, they were worshipping goddess Katyayani.
And as I said, every day the desire would become stronger and stronger and stronger, and the worship to the deities would become more and more elaborate, and they would become more and more into the whole process.
And as you know, if you gave a certain vrata, and vrata, as I said, implies some austerity. You have to do something which is difficult. You know, by the end of the vrata you become completely happy because of two reasons.
The first reason is that you sure that you kind of came closer to the goal which you wanted to achieve, and the second reason is that finally it is finished because you feel relief because it's difficult.
Vratem means you're doing something difficult, Brata means you're doing something which you normally wouldn't do. And it helps you to concentrate your desire in one point, you become completely one-pointed.
But then when it's finished, you become completely you kind of relaxed, you know. For one month you were totally tense and trying to do this, and finally you say, okay, we made it. We made it.
Like everyone knows who would go for one month of marathon, you know. The last day of marathon is the most happy day. Finally it's over.
So uh and uh exactly the same feeling uh are now is in the hearts of the gopis, not only because of this but, also because in the night before, when they were performing their vratas, in the night before Goddess Katyani came to each and every Gopi in a dream.
And the goddess said, Oh, I am very pleased to you. Very soon your desire will be fulfilled. So they woke up in the morning of this last day of their Vrata.
They know this is the last day, they will just do the final worship of Katyani.
They already know and that there are all auspicious signs, the left part of the bodies is you know tweaking like anything, the eye, the thigh, everything.
They they have special tremor in the left side which is auspicious for women and very inauspicious for men. So and they know something wonderful will happen today. You know, they they have this great anticipation.
So they hardly could sleep in the morning. They are just running, knocking each other's door, calling each other, oh fortunate girl, let's go there, let's go.
So they call each other Danja, which means oh very, very fortunate. And they're running there to the bank of Yemuna, and they completely take off their clothes and they jump into the water of Yamuna.
And while they're uh splashing and taking baths they're loudly singing gayantah, it is explained here by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, that they were playing in the water completely oblivious that the water is very cold.
I mean it's the last day of Margashira, which is one of the most probably the coldest months of the year in Vrindavan, it's really cold. It's cold.
And they're splashing in the water, completely oblivious that the water is cold.
And Jīva Gosvāmī explains at this point, it basically means that they they completely forget about everything else, they are totally not in a bodily platform.
Well, they were never in a bodily platform, but it means that they're free from duality. When our consciousness, even though it's in internal, still, you know there is some element of external part of our konsusness.
And it means that the body is one, mind is something else, and you know there is some divisions and some dualities there. So in this last day they are in complete samadhi. They don't understand anything.
They're just splashing the water and they know now we will uh worship this Katyayani and our desires will be fulfilled.
So at this very moment Krishna is taking these friends of his and going to the bank of Yamuna because he knows Tat Abipretya. Knowing their intentions, knowing what they want, Abipretya, Abipraya means the intention.
Because he is Bhagavān, he is the super soul and he's Yogeshvara or Yogeshvara Yogeshvareshvara.
Identity of Krishna's young companions
So he goes there but what is the most amazing thing is that he takes with him his friends. And moreover, technically speaking,
the word vayasya, which is used here, Vyasyahi, together with the friends, vayasya means the friends of the same age. So that's very strange because you know he is going to perform some śṛṅgāra-līlā, some mādhurya- līlā.
And if this friends were of the same age it would completely destroy the Rasa. It would be completely rasabas. It should not be there. It's not supposed to be there. It's completely against the rules of rasa.
So therefore, different ācāryas are trying to explain this in different ways. What does it really mean?
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says actually vayasya doesn't mean friends, vayasya means he takes with him his good qualities. That's his attempt to reconcile this.
He is going with his mystic powers and with everything else and he goes there. But who was it? I believe Sanātana Gosvāmī gives a better explanation. He quotes the verse from Gautamiya Tantra.
And in Gautamiya Tantra it is said that Kṛṣṇa has, as every one of us, has four elements of his antaḥkaraṇa. Manas, buddhi, ahaṅkāra, and citta. This is four elements of our or four functions of our consciousness.
And in Gautamiya Tantra it is said that these four elements of Krishna's consciousness take external form of his four friends. So these four friends they are Dhamma, Sudhamma, Vasudama and Kinkini. Kinkini and Vasudhamma.
Dhamma is his intelligence, Sudhamma is his mind, and Kinkini is his ego, and Vasudhamma is his Is Chitta. So basically, what they want to say is that these friends of Krishna are no different from him.
And to make sure that there is no Rasabhas in this Leela. To really make sure that there is no Rasabha. This is totally young friends, and they, they don't have any idea of what's going on, they just love Krishna.
So they're going along with Krishna to this path of Yamuna. And Krishna is kind of running more or less because he wants to be on time.
And these boys they are kind of you know behind and they're uh always asking Krishna where are we going? Where are we going? Where are we going? And Krishna is just determined.
He doesn't he doesn't you know he doesn't do any prajalpa with them. He just goes straight there and uh uh just says that you know you will know.
So the gopis are splashing in the water, they're playing in the water, completely oblivious of everything else.
Krishna steals the gopis' garments
Krishna comes closer to Yamuna, he sees this beautiful scene, and he says to his friends, pshh. Because these friends were always like little children, they were always talking something.
They were very talkative blah blah blah blah blah Krishna looks at them very sternly you know and
And then, actually, this is also what Viśvanātha Cakravartī says, what he did, why he is called Yogeśvara, Yogeśvara, Īśvara, Īśvara of all Yogeśvaras, because he managed to steal the clothes of all the gopis, even though they were right there, and it was just that the cloth was visible.
Krishna, somehow rather. He was a trained thief. He was quite good at it. He had a lot of experience. He goes there and by his mystic power he steals all these clothes without being noticed.
And with all these clothes, he climbs over the Kadamba tree, which is especially after rainy season, Kadamba trees are very lush and green.
So he's not noticed that his friends are climbing to another tree which is growing nearby.
And when everything is done at this point, these friends, they his friends cannot really contain themselves any longer, and they start laughing and laughing and laughing.
And Krishna, when he imagines what will happen now, he also starts laughing. Because you know all these girls completely. They think that's a very secluded place. Nobody is there.
And all of a sudden they hear this, you know. cloud laugh and especially Krishna, Krishna's voice is very deep.
So it's uh you know if this young boy's uh love can be taken as women then Krishna's love can never be taken as women's love. So Krishna is like something like that.
When Gopi hear this they become completely what happened and they don't know the source of this love because Krishna is hidden there on the uh branches of this tree and they're standing there.
Who is there? What male is here? You know who is there? You will see us.
So immediately after that, when they when this happened, they just before that they were splicing and they were all quite, you know, exposed, so to speak, but immediately they go down and only their faces are sticking out of the water.
Mixed emotional nuances of the gopis
So all of a sudden you see this scene, there is a moon river, and so many faces are sticking out of the water, and all the faces they are completely, you know, afraid and at the same time angry and at the same time uh there is some happiness and then Krishna comes out in a very you know majestic way he comes out and says oh what are you doing here and they of course they recognize his voice they knew it's Krishna.
So, uh, as Jīva Gosvāmī explains that the uh the faces and the heads of the gopis were like the golden lotuses.
The whole Yamuna was covered by these golden beautiful lotuses and eyes of Krishna became like bumblebees who are just running to these lotuses and buzzing around these lotuses and Krishna's looking at them.
And each of them is so beautiful, so unbelievably beautiful with big eyes. But they they cannot look at Krishna, they look down. And Krishna is explaining that this. Well not Krishna is sorry.
Jiva Goswami is explaining that this is what Krishna is enjoying at this moment. He's enjoying by this unbelievable, unforgettable mixture of emotions.
They are ashamed, they are angry, they are frustrated, they are anticipating the joy, they are simultaneously angry and happy.
You know, if you want to be gopi you have to learn how to experience this mixture of different emotions, different emotional nuances at the same time.
It's called Kila Kinchita Bhav. Srila Rupa Gaswami explains this in Ujvalani Lamani when Kila Kinchita. Kila means uh kinchita means uh uh something little from many many things. So it's kind of mixture. It's uh it's uh emotional kichiri. That's what it is, killer kinchita. So and so many different emotions, contradictory, totally, completely contradictory emotions are together and they are expressed in the faces of Gopi who couldn't look at Krishna because they're so ashamed and at the same time they deep down inside their heart, they know Krishna is reciprocating with us. He is coming forward. And actually they at this moment they think, you know, it's not only we who are attached to Krishna, Krishna is also attached to us. So this is what is happening in the particular scene.
And then uh when uh this happened uh Krishna uh first First of course, first they uh and these friends of Krishna they are completely in bliss.
Joking arguments on the riverbank
They see this, they don't understand anything, but they're just laughing, you know, like only small children can laugh. So they're laughing and laughing and laughing.
And these gopis, because they they're too ashamed to speak directly with Krishna at this moment of time. So they started chastising these little boys. They're saying you're laughing now.
We will see what you will do when we will tell what you're doing in your free time to your parents. This event will be known to your parents. We will see how you will love.
And this boys, as Siladivagaswamy says, the boys were very nicely trained by Krishna. So therefore when they heard this chastisement from the
gopis and they say My our dear girls, we just see we are small boys and we don't know what is good, what is bad. We just came here to learn from you.
And already by your behavior we learned so much what is good what is bad. So thank you very much for your lessons.
And Gopis. Gopis became little embarrassed because they know that they were doing something which was not so appropriate. So and they were retorting back to these boys, they were saying to these boys. That let me see.
I just want to get it right. And they wanted to uh to point out the faults of what they were doing. And they said, of course you came here to learn from us, but we know who is your real teacher.
And you are definitely good disciples of your teacher. And probably because you learned from him so nicely the art of stealing, while when you will go back to the village you will probably practice this art.
So this is how they answer them. And the little boys they completely compose. They are not going to lose too easily.
And they say, actually, and they say, you know, as a real thieves, you're hiding somewhere in a tree, as should have been expected, the thief, you know, he steals something and then he's going into hiding.
And the boys they're answering: actually, we are not stealing anything, we are just hiding because when we came to Yamuna we saw so many crocodiles here.
And because there are so many crocodiles here we decided we were very afraid and therefore we climbed over uh uh on the tree and we really hope that crocodiles don't climb the same trees. So that's going on.
And then Krishna understands that he has to uh come uh to help uh his friends and then he has to uh really, you know, bring gopīs to another level of interaction and uh uh he starts speaking from the branch openly.
He said, you know, there is a very strange thing. I was herding cows nearby. And then I saw this Kadamba tree, and it's a very strange Kadamba tree because I saw that there are so many colorful fruits
and flowers in this Kadamba tree. But when I came closer, I wanted to discover what's happening and
then when I came closer to this Kadamba tree, I saw that there are so many saris which are hanging from this Kadamba tree. Do you know by any chance how did these saris end up on this Kadamba tree?
And Gopis, they became really angry. At this point they became angry and they look at Krishna with their eyes burning with anger, and they say, you know, you think we are fools? Saris cannot climb over Kadamba.
You stole our saris. You put these saris there. I said no no.
Actually, I did see that so many clothes are you know laying on the bank and I decided to guard this clothes because who knows maybe some thiefs will come. So I I put this clothes in a very safe place. You should be very grateful to me.
And uh these gopis say it's our clothes.
You know, and nobody asked you to guard this clothes. He said, you know, how do you prove that this is how do you prove that this is your clothes? You know, I. Maybe you are thieves, you know, maybe somebody else left this clothes here. So just in case and because I know you you are very unreliable girls, so I'm just guarding this safely.
And the girls say, whose else clothes could it be? It's a very secluded place. Nobody else is here, only we are here. He said, maybe now only you're here, but you know so many other women can come here.
It's not a logical argument, so I don't accept this argument. And then it's going on, this Vastra-vilasa is going on, they're playing the words, and Krishna is refuting all the arguments.
And ultimately, they say, actually, I know whose clause it is. I know the truth. The truth is that uh uh uh and and they say
actually we are uh uh you're just you're just completely useless girls, you are just playing here, you're completely frivolous girls. What are you doing here? I don't know.
And they said, we're not playing here. We are worshipping Katiayani. We are here with a religious purpose.
We're very religious, chaste girls, and you know we, we will not touch other clothes because we we don't steal anything.
Krishna says, Oh, you're worshipping Katyayani, and they say, We worship Katyayani on this Kadamba tree.
Krishna says, Oh, really, you're worshiping Durga Devi and this Kadamba tree. Actually, now I understood whose clothes it is. That's the clothes of demi-goddesses who come here to worship Katyani. This is a very sacred tree, yes, you're right.
And uh and then they put these clothes here. Now I know, they said, you know, demigoddesses, why, why they're doing this? We we are here.
You know, Krishna says, no, no, no. We'll wait till the night and see if demigoddesses come here because they come at night. And then you know if they don't come So
he's playing with them and they're playing with him and the the more he speaks the more their hearts melt because they understand Krishna. Krishna loves us. Krishna is coming here.
And they're still insisting, they're still saying, you know, you have to you have to give us these clothes back, this is our clothes.
Krishna says: if they are your clothes, it's no problem. You just come one by one and I will figure out. Uh and of course you will have to pay me little money for guarding this clothes nicely.
You know, as you know in the in Vṛndāvana, you know, in the temple, before the temple, in front of the temple, there is somebody who is sitting there, and you know, if you leave the shoes, he is there with the with the stick. And when you leave the temple you have to give him something.
So Krishna says I I guarded these clothes so you will have to give me, pay me some remuneration for this. And then Krishna says, actually, Krishna starts speaking to the boys.
Actually, you know what, my dear boys? I really understood what's going on. These girls who don't want to come out of water, they're not naked. I can see through the water.
Playful accusations and call for surrender
They are all thieves. You know this is a very important element of the story which is widely used nowadays. If you are a thief, the best way to defend yourself is to accuse somebody else being a thief.
So this is what propaganda is doing, you know. Somebody is doing something, the other side is accusing them and the other side says, no no, you're doing this, not doing this. So Krishna is using exactly the same argument.
He said he's he's speaking to these boys and he says, you know, these girls, they're accusing me as being a thief.
But actually I see it very clearly because when I see in the water of Yamuna, I see that there is something golden there down there.
And I know because I'm playing here and there in Vraj, and every now and then being absorbed or immersed in the play, I leave my pitambar. And these gopis, they're thieves.
They steal my pitambara, and now they all're dressed in pitambaras. And uh uh if you want to prove that you're not dressed in the pitambaras please come out and we'll see if you're dressed or not.
And then again Krishna says to his friends, or otherwise, you my dear friends, go there and drag them out and see if they are in my pitambar or not, whether they are thieves or not.
And the boys are very obedient to Kṛṣṇa.
His obedient servants and they're climbing out from the tree and are standing on the bank of the river, little hesitant to do anything else, and they're just meditating how they will go into the water and you know deal with these dangerous crocodiles which are which are there.
So he's going there. They're standing there. And the gopīs, they become really angry at this moment of time.
And they started saying, you come here, you come here. You come here and you bring your master, you know, for the whole month we were worshipping Kātyāyanī and we became so powerful. We will show you who is more powerful here.
And the boys became really afraid because they they really think that by their mystical power they will drag them into water and do something, drown them in the water.
And these little boys they very quickly climb on Kṛṣṇa's tree and say, you know, you are master, so we take shelter of your lotus feet. Please give us the shade of your lotus feet. So this is what is uh going on there.
And uh, uh Kṛṣṇa is joking and uh gopīs are joking, but ultimately uh Kṛṣṇa uh is very insistent he is not going to go back he is not and they realize it. They're determined and Kṛṣṇa is determined.
And Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa says, you know, why are you afraid? Just come out. Kṛṣṇa gives a very nice argument, actually.
Kṛṣṇa says: in śāstras, it is said that the face is anyway the most beautiful part of the body. And I see your beautiful faces.
So what difference it makes if you show me your whole body? You know what's the problem? I just want to see the rest of your body. You know, but anyway, the best part I've already seen. So just come out. Come closer.
And we will see. And he said, I swear, you know, I'm a very truthful person, and I give you my word of the son of the king.
Then if you come out, you know, very easily I'll give you the clothes, please come out, take the clothes. And gopīs say, how do we know that you are truthful? You know, you're not really famous for being so truthful. He said, if you don't believe me, you ask these boys, they will confirm that I never speak any lie. As far as I'm concerned, I never remember myself even once speaking a lie.
You know, doesn't sound familiar, you know. When we think about ourselves, you know, as far as I am concerned, I never was wrong in my life.
Krishna says the same thing. You know, as far as I'm concerned, I never spoke any lie in my life.
And anyway, he says, if you don't believe me, you just send one girl who is less important among all of you. And let's see how I deal with her.
And if I deal with her fairly, then every one of you, you know what what, uh, what difference does it make? You just try, make an experiment.
And then at this point of time the copies started looking at each other and they were saying, uh, they were saying, uh, looking at each other and saying, oh fortunate girl, Krishna wants you to come out. Krishna is fulfilling your desire.
Why don't you go? And uh and yeah, of course, the girl says, no, no, he wants you to come out. So they're kind of gently pushing each other. You know, you come out. No, you No, you come out.
And then Krishna says, no, no, you just come out. And ultimately they say, ultimately they become very humble.
In the beginning, they were answering Krishna, they were fighting with him, they were trying to argue, they were trying to use any other means, but ultimately they understood there is no point to with him, he will He is always right. The only way to conquer him is humility.
So they started saying, Krishna, you know, we are anyway your dāsīs, we are your servants. Why do you do this to us? Please relieve us.
We are ready to fulfill any of your desires, but please give us the clothes and then we will talk.
And Krishna says immediately, oh, you are my dāsīs. Let's see if you are really dāsīs. Dāsīs means that you have to fulfill any desire of mine. And if you don't fulfill your liars and then yeah I punish you.
And then the the Gopis, they become completely frustrated, and then Krishna at this point of time he's sitting there on the branch and he starts yawning. You know, I'm bored sitting here but I don't mind you know, sitting on the branch of this tree unless you go out. You know, and they say, you know, and they get a some glimpse of hope at this moment of time. They say, Krishna, you know, we see that your cows are lost somewhere.
You know, you're hurting the cows there in the cave. You should rush there to the cows. And Krishna says, no, no, no, no. My cows they know what they're doing. You know, I don't mind sitting here.
I, of course, I'm a little bored, but I have so much clothes here, so I make a hammock here and I will just sit a little bit in the air. And this and instead you should go back.
You should be in a hurry, because your parents probably wait for you to do some household duties. And they said: No, no, our parents said to us that we should perform our vrata for 30 days will be there. Okay.
Krishna says you're detached from your home, I'm also detached from my home. You know, if you are not attached to your houses, I'm not attached to my house. I will sit on the tree, you will sit there.
And at the same time it's cold. I mean it's really cold. And they're shivering and they're shivering and they don't know whether they're shivering from ecstasy or they're shivering from the cold, what is going on?
Surrendering all reservations to Krishna
And ultimately they realize that there is no way and Krishna is doing all kinds of tricks on them, and they realized that they should surrender.
And that's another element of the story which is very important because you know we come to Krishna, but at the same time, every one of us has some reservations. We are somewhat hesitant.
There is something we we we say, you know, like Arjuna says, I am surrendered soul, I am the soul surrendered unto you. Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam. I am Prapanna. I am completely surrendered unto you.
But I'm not going to fight. So that's exactly our condition. We're surrendered. No problem. But there is some hidden but which sometimes we ourselves are not even aware of. What we don't want to surrender.
We are ready to surrender something you know, which uh which we don't need anyway. You know, like some people they they surrender the prospect of marriage life but because they don't want it anywhere.
So usually we surrender to Krishna or we give to Krishna something which we don't really need. But always there is something hidden deep inside our heart which we don't want to surrender, which we are not ready to surrender.
So, and Krishna knows this. And we argue with Krishna. Krishna, why do we need this? You know, I already surrendered so much. I am already devidasi or das, I am already your servant, I did so much for you.
You know, why don't you accept me with a little something in my part which I am not giving for you? Krishna is saying, no, no, no, let's see whether you will be able to surrender completely.
So that's the dynamic of our spiritual life. This is what Krishna is illustrating by this pastime.
You know, whether we're able to stand in front of Krishna completely naked, surrendering the last, you know, the most precious possessions which we have. And that's why Krishna is called Yogeshvara Ishvara, because He
can do it, and only He can do it. He can bring us to this point that we'll say, okay, Krishna, you know, take this, no problem. I'm yours.
So ultimately, at one point, they started whispering with each other, you know, making a plan. And they were deciding who will go first. And they had a brilliant idea.
Actually, I forgot to say a very important point of this pastime is that in this last day all these young gopis they also invited older gopis who were already engaged, married, and Rādhārāṇī was there.
All the elder gopis, nitya-siddhas, they also came at this day. And that's another important element of the whole story: that you cannot really enter, you cannot really fulfill your desires or your aspirations unless
you take the help of some nitya-siddha associate of the Lord. You have to invite Him, you have to make Him a part of your all and ask
Gopis step out of the river
him for help.
So all these different gopis of different ages are there, and ultimately they designed a very beautiful plan. Plan that in front they put the youngest gopi who is the most innocent, and then behind her there will be two others who are kind of hiding behind her back.
And at the same time, they lose their hairs and their long hairs and they are covering their bodies, and then behind these two there are long hairs and they are covering their bodies, and then behind these two there are three who are hiding behind their backs and behind this, so there is a special formation there like in Army. They're going this in the perfect order trying to still hide themselves behind the backs of everyone.
And Krishna is looking at them and he's really enjoying the scene and enjoying their emotions, their shyness, and this. And then he says, actually, what you are doing is not right because you want to fulfill your vrata.
And if you want to fulfill your vrata, you have to do everything pakka. And if you want to do everything pakka, you have to tie your hairs because it's completely uncultured when the ladies have loose
hairs, it's so you know you quickly tie all your hairs and they're looking at him and at this point they're completely broken, they're ready to do everything which he says.
You know, if you want this, and they started tying them with their long hairs.
And then Krishna says, you know, what is this business of hiding behind the back, you know, you just make a straight line and come one by one and
doing everything which he says and then he says you know and um but at the same time they are uh having a special mudra like this and
then Krishna says no no this uh you know we are worshiping and worship implies proper mudras your mudras should be like this you You should make pranaam to me.
He's doing this and ultimately he's completely satisfied with them. He sees how beautiful they are and how surrendered they are and how completely pure they are. He sees their purity and he enjoys their purity.
And they're becoming even more humble than before.
Krishna accepts their vow and promises future meeting
He gives them clothes and they they started taking on the clothes. And Krishna says, okay, my dear girls, you wanted something, I fulfilled your desire.
Actually, according to the Vedic traditions, you the girl can become naked only in front of her husband. So you wanted me to become your husband? Okay, I fulfilled your desires.
Your vrata can be considered successful, but it's not time yet, so Krishna gives them benediction and that sometime in the future there will be nights when we will meet together. And by giving them this promise he lives.
And actually even before that, before when the copies started coming out, the friends of Krishna they said, okay, this is let's go somewhere else. And they leave the place. And Krishna gives this promise
and it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that after hearing this promise, God is they were completely mad before. They were completely in love with Krishna before, but after that they lost their consciousness. They were completely absorbed in thinking about Krishna.
They could only see him everywhere. So he helped them to bring their love for him on another level.
And he left and they went to Raj thinking you know how fortunate they were and what happened with them on this last day of the ratha. Okay. Thank you very much. So I guess there is no question. We know what to do now.
There is a process and Krishna reciprocates with us. And actually I I will read one more verse, beautiful verse from this. Perhaps the most important verse.
Iti acyutena vihitaṁ vraja-bāla-bhāvā vastrāpahāraṇa-vratacāryatā-pūrteḥ kāmas tad-artha-karaṇaṁ sākṣād-kṛtaṁ nis-cūḍāvadya-mṛgayaṁ ca tad-eva-śukra Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains by the end of this līlā.
Thus the young girls, girls of Vrindavana, considering what Lord Acyuta had told them accepted that they had suffered a false, uh, one second yes, yes.
and that they had suffered a fall down from their vow by bathing naked in the river, but they still desired successfully come this is just one second. No, this is what I wanted to read.
Unconditional love despite worldly embarrassment
The other ones, 20 second verse. Dṛḍhaṁ pralabdhas trapayā ca khāpitāḥ prastobhitāḥ krīḍana-vatsa-kāritāḥ vastrāṇi caivāpahṛtāny athāpy amuṁ nābhyaṣūyan priya-saṅga-nirvṛtāḥ.
Translation Although the Gopis had been thoroughly cheated, deprived of their modesty, ridiculed, and made to act just like toy dolls, and over their clothing had been stolen, they did not feel at all inimical towards Sri Krishna. Rather, they were simply joyful to have this opportunity to associate with their beloved.
So that's that's the essence of this līlā. Aśeṣa-bādhā-praśamaṁ pranaṣṭa-darśanaṁ marma-hataṁ karotiva. This is what Krishna is doing. They were cheated.
They were deprived of their modesty, they were made like to make to act like dolls. Their cloth was stolen, but still they were in love with Krishna. So that's real love. Everything else is just an imitation. Okay.
Thank you very much, Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna Krishna Guru Maharaj, what does it mean to stand naked in front of God in a practical way? It's not like Krishna doesn't know my imperfections or matters or whatever.
Actually, I'm the one who doesn't know them. So what does it mean? Oh Krishna will have will help you to know it.
Krishna first of all will help you to understand your limitations or your uh your hesitance and your problems, and then he will help you to get rid of this.
So, but you will have to do it, he will help you to do it, but you will have to do it. If you don't want to do it, you know, he will not do it for yourself.
So first he will explain to you or reveal to you or show to you where is your blind spot and then he will help you to get rid of it. And you will argue like can you say not this, not this, please?
So is it bonified to ask Krishna, help me to surrender and don't do it. The time will come. Don't worry about this.
Questions on keeping spiritual aspirations hidden
Don't be in a hurry. I have two questions, if I may.
Um one is relating to the beginning of uh your description and you described how um in our tradition or in our culture of devotional service there is this um aspect of keeping our aspirations secretive and
I find it very interesting because sometimes in our society of devotees um we do aspire, and that is reflected in the way we do things or in our interaction with devotees. So why is being secretive so important?
Because when you show it off, there is a you know great possibility of some pride to sneak in and the pride will poison your aspirations. We should be very secretive because that's the humility.
And also Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives a very beautiful metaphor or comparison to understand this. He says love is like a little ghee lamp.
And if the ghee lamp is hidden if it's in a room, then it will burn very steadily.
But as soon as you take this ghee lamp out of the room and place it on the threshold or on the doorsteps, then the wind starts blowing and ultimately it will extinguish the ghee lamp.
So he says love is exactly like this: as soon as you bring it out, it will be extinguished by the winds which are blowing there. So you should hide it, uh, in a protected place within yourself.
And therefore it's not a proper etiquette even to speak so much speak about these pastimes, it's a very there is an important reason about this. So therefore our conservative attitude which we have is actually bona fide.
But every now and then, you know, once every seventeen years we can do it. Last time I was here seventeen years back.
Questions on how desires are fulfilled
Thank you very much. Uh can I ask in Russian? Yes. И мои...
You said in the lecture that Krishna fulfilled all the desires of the Gopis, but as far as I remember, they desired to make him their husbands. So how shall we understand that he fulfilled their desires?
Uh uh and uh you said also that when uh he left them they started thinking about him even more intensely. So was this the way how he fulfilled their desires? Uh it's a big subject matter.
He did fulfill their desires because they they desired first and foremost reciprocation. Formalities of the matter are not so important. What is important is reciprocation. And you know it's purvaraga.
Purvaraga means separation before the meeting. So they didn't have a chance to speak with Krishna in a secluded place.
For them, you know, the highest aspiration for those who are experiencing Purvaraga is to meet with Krishna in a secluded place. And that's what he fulfilled. And yes, you know there are different kinds of marriages.
There is Brahma marriage when it is arranged marriage by your parents and uh there is some Rakshasa marriage and there is some Gandharva marriage.
So it was kind of Gandharva marriage when they are mutually agree with each other. So Krishna fulfilled their desires.
And in any case if you don't believe that he fulfilled their desires, you ask them whether he fulfilled them or not. What do you think they will say to you? They would say yes. Their vrata was totally successful.
Hare Krishna Prabhu. I was reading recently this chapter in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and in one purport to one verse it is stated that there were three prominent emotions in Gopis' heart during this līlā.
One was they were very jubilant, very happy because Krishna accepted them. Second, they felt some shyness, some embarrassment. And third one they were ready and eager to fulfill all Krishna's desires.
And I was thinking that it is quite a romantic mix of emotions which was in their heart.
Questions on balancing spiritual life and external duties
And uh now I was listening to all these jokes which you mentioned between Krishna and Gopi and uh wondering if uh the joke these jokes they were telling them uh to each other in romantic way or in friendly way because it looked like they were talking to each other like children with joking and or there was some still some romantic way because the same joke, the same word can be spoken in different uh mood and maybe you can a little bit qualify. I'm not a big expert in romantic affairs. I'm just saying what I'm hearing.
I have a question according to the previous lecture. You told them that all mm our material mm experience is useless in spiritual life and vice versa all our spiritual experience is useless in material world.
How can proper balance the situation? Because we have to somehow fulfill our desires and lives. In the beginning we're playing a role of a devotee, whereas our heart is more or less still the heart of a materialist.
But at the end, we should play the role of a materialist, but our heart should be the heart of a devotee. So externally we're playing a role, and we should try to play this role as nicely as possible.
That's the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Sanātana Gosvāmī.
You hide your real heart content from others by perfectly fulfilling your duties, but you at the same time you understand that this is the role and your inner aspirations are different. So that's the balance.
You know, playing a role, but our real life is hidden internally. Okay, I guess that's it. Thank you very much. Śrīla Prabhupāda-kī jaya! Premanande!